Two parcel gilt-bronze figures


Signed Miyao, Meiji PeriodThe first of a samurai wearing elaborate floral robes, with a sheathed tanto and katana scabbard at the knotted obi, the hands positioned to hold further swords, the face with a defiant expression and with a topknot hairstyle, fixed gilt-lacquer decorated base; the second similarly decorated figure of entertainer holding a stove. Each: 15cm (5 7/8in) high (2).
|The Miyao Company of Yokohama, under its founder Miyao Eisuke, was a prolific producer of medium to large-scale patinated and gilded bronze ornamental sculptures. These works often depicted characters from Japanese legend and mythology and as such appealed both to the Japanese market, where the subject matter would be clearly understood, and the Western market where the sheer exoticism of the subject matter together with fine workmanship would appeal.